Roy Hodgson: 'Wayne Rooney could break Sir Bobby Charlton's goal record'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 23 February 2014

England manager Roy Hodgson reveals that he plans to speak to Wayne Rooney about the possibility of breaking Bobby Charlton's international goalscoring record.

England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that he plans to speak to Wayne Rooney about the possibility of breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record for the team.

Rooney is currently on 38 goals for his country, 11 behind Charlton's record mark of 49 which has stood for 44 years since the Manchester United legend saw his international career ended in 1970.

Hodgson believes that Alan Shearer's record of 260 Premier League goals may just be beyond the 28-year-old, but insists that he would like to see him become England's highest ever scorer.

"I'm sure we will talk about it. We'll be together for a longer period of time [at the World Cup], and that kind of thing might crop up in an everyday conversation and it's quite good to have that," Hodgson is quoted as saying by PA.

"He's a long way behind Alan in the Premier League, but in terms of international goals he's definitely up there and we would want that."

Rooney recently committed his long-term future to United by signing a reported £300,000-a-week deal that will keep him at the club until 2019.